BOOK 4. INVISIBLE MEN OF MARSChapter 1Yes, Llana of Gathol was safe at last. I had brought her from captivityin the Arctic city of Pankor, stolen her from under the very nose ofHin Abtol, the self-styled Jeddak of Jeddaks of the North; and we werespeeding through the thin air of dying Mars in my own fast flier towardGathol. I was very contented with what I had achieved, but I was alsovery cold."You said that you were taking me to Gathol," said Llana, after we hadleft Pankor far behind. "Nothing would make me happier than to returnto my father, my mother, and my native city; but how may we hope tomake a landing there while Gathol is surrounded by the warriors of HinAbtol?""The Panars are a stupid, inefficient lot," I replied; "most of HinAbtol's warriors are unwilling conscripts who have no heart in wagingwar for their tyrannical master. These poor frozen men only endure itbecause they know there is no escape and prefer life and consciousnessto being returned to Pankor and frozen in again until Hin Abtol needstheir swords for a future war.""'Frozen men'!" ejaculated Llana; "what do you mean by that?""You heard nothing of them while you were a prisoner in Pankor?" Iasked, surprised."Nothing," Llana assured me; "tell me about them.""Just outside the walls of the hot-house city there are rows upon rowsof racks in the biting cold and bitter wind of the North Polar region.On these racks, like beef in a cold storage warehouse, thousands ofwarriors hang by their feet, frozen solid and in a state of suspendedanimation. They are captives whom he had taken on numerous raids duringa period of fully a hundred years. I have talked with some who had beenfrozen in over fifty years."I was in the resuscitating room when a number of them were thawed out;after a few minutes they don't seem to be any worse for theirexperience, but the whole idea is revolting.""Why does he do it?" demanded Llana. "Why thousands of them?""Better say thousands upon thousands," I said; "one slave told me thatthere were at least a million. Hin Abtol dreams of conquering all ofBarsoom with them.""How grotesque!" exclaimed Llana."Were it not for the navy of Helium, he might go far along the roadtoward the goal of his grandiose ambition; and you may thank yourrevered ancestors, Llana, that there is a navy of Helium. After Ireturn you to Gathol, I shall fly to Helium and organize an expeditionto write finis to Hin Abtol's dreams.""I wish that before you do that we might try to find out what hasbecome of Pan Dan Chee and Jad-han," said Llana; "the Panars separatedus shortly after we were captured.""They may have been taken to Pankor and frozen in", I suggested."Oh, no!" exclaimed Llana; "that would be too terrible.""You are very fond of Pan Dan Chee, aren't you?" I asked."He has been a very good friend," she replied, a little stiffly. Thestubborn minx wouldn't admit that she was in love with him--andpossibly she wasn't; you never can tell anything about a woman. She hadtreated him abominably when they were together; but when they wereseparated and he was in danger, she had evinced the greatest, concernfor his safety."I don't know how we can learn anything about his fate," I said,"unless we can inquire directly of the Panars; and that might proverather dangerous. I should like to know what has become of them and TanHadron of Hastor as well.""Tan Hadron of Hastor? Where is he?""The last I saw of him, he was on board the Dusar, the Panar ship Istole from their line outside Gathol; and he was the prisoner of themutinous crew that took it from me. There were a lot of assassins amongthem, and these were determined to kill Tan Hadron as soon as he hadtaken the ship to whatever destination they had decided upon; you see,none of the crew knew anything about navigation.""Tan Hadron of Hastor," said Llana again; "his mother was a royalprincess of Gathol and Tan Hadron himself one of the greatest fightingmen of Barsoom.""A splendid officer," I added."Steps must be taken to save him, too.""If it is not too late," I said; "and the only chance of saving any ofthem lies in my reaching Helium in time to bring a fleet to Gatholbefore Hin Abtol succeeds in reducing it, and then on to Pankor, if wedo not find these three among Hin Abtol's prisoners at Gathol.""Perhaps we had better fly direct to Helium," suggested Llana. "A fleetfrom Helium could accomplish something, while we two, alone, mightaccomplish no more than getting ourselves captured again by the Panars--and it would go hard with you, John Carter, if Hin Abtol ever got hishands on you again, after what you did in Pankor today." She laughed."I shall never forget what you did to Rab-zov, 'the strongest man inPankor.'""Neither will Rab-zov," I said."Nor Hin Abtol. And the hole you made in the glass dome covering thecity, when you drove the flier right through it! I'll wager they allhad chills before they got that patched up. No, Hin Abtol will neverforget you.""But he never knew who I really was," I reminded Llana; "with mydisguise removed, I was no longer a red man; and he might never guessthat he had once had John Carter in his power.""The results would be the same as far as you are concerned," saidLlana; "I think it would be death in either event."Before we had come far from Pankor I decided that our wisest coursewould be to proceed directly to Helium and enlist the aid of TardosMors, the jeddak. While I hold the titles of Jeddak of Jeddaks andWarlord of Barsoom, conferred upon me by the jeddaks of five nations, Ihave always considered them largely honorary, and have never presumedto exercise the authority implicit in them, except in times of war wheneven the great Jeddak of Helium has graciously served under me.Having reached the decision to fly to Helium rather than Gathol, Iturned toward the southeast. Before us lay a journey half the distancearound the planet, and we were absolutely without water or provisions.Soon the towers and stately ruins of Horz were visible, reminding usboth of the circumstances under which we had met Pan Dan Chee, and Ithought that Llana looked down a little sadly on that long dead cityfrom which her lost lover had been self-exiled because of us. It washere that she had escaped from Hin Abtol, and it was here that HinAbtol had stolen this very flier of mine that I had found and recoveredin his Polar capital. Yes, Horz held many memories for both of us; andI was glad when it lay behind us, this dead monument to a dead past.Far ahead lay Dusar where water and provisions might be obtained, butthe friendliness of Dusar was open to question. It had not been so manyyears since Carthoris, the Prince of Helium, had almost been done todeath there by Astok, son of Nutus, the jeddak of Dusar; and there hadbeen no intercourse between Helium and Dusar since that time. BeyondDusar was no friendly city all the way to Helium.I decided to give Dusar a wide berth, and in doing so we flew overcountry. with which I was entirely unfamiliar. It was a hilly country;and in the long, deep valley I saw one of those rarest of all sights onMars, a splendid forest. Now, to me a forest means fruits and nuts and,perhaps, game animals; and we were hungry. There would doubtless bemantilia plants too, the sap of which would quench our thirst; and so Idecided to land. My best judgment told me that it was a risky thing todo, and subsequent events proved that my judgment was wholly correct.Chapter 2I landed on level ground close to the forest, and telling Llana toremain aboard the flier ready to take off at a moment's notice, I wentin search of food. The forest consisted principally of skeel, sorapus,and sompus trees. The first two are hardwood trees bearing large,delicious nuts, while the sompus trees were loaded with a citrus-likefruit with a thin red rind. The pulp of this fruit, called somp, is notunlike grapefruit, though much sweeter. It is considered a greatdelicacy among Barsoomians, and is cultivated along many of the canals.I had never seen any, however, as large as these, growing wild; nor hadI ever seen trees on Mars of the size of many of those growing in thishidden forest.I had gathered as much of the fruit and as many nuts as I could carry,when I heard Llana calling me. There was a note of excitement andurgency in her voice, and I dropped all that I had gathered and ran inthe direction of the flier.Just before I came out of the forest I heard her scream; and as Iemerged, the flier rose from the ground. I ran toward it as fast as Ican run, and that is extremely fast under the conditions of lessergravity which prevail on Mars. I took forty or fifty feet in a leap,and then I sprang fully thirty feet into the air in an effort to seizethe rail of the flier. One hand touched the gunwale; but my fingersdidn't quite close over the rail, and I slipped back and fell to theground. However, I had had a glimpse of the deck of the flier, and whatI saw there filled me with astonishment and, for some reason, impartedthat strange sensation to my scalp as though each separate hair werestanding erect--Llana lay on the deck absolutely alone, and there wasno one at the controls!"A noble endeavor," said a voice behind me; "you can certainly jump."I wheeled about, my hand flying to the hilt of my sword. There was noone there!I looked toward the forest; there was no sign of living thing about me.From behind me came a laugh--a taunting, provocative laugh. Again Iwheeled. As far as I could see there was only the peaceful Martianlandscape. Above me, the flier circled and disappeared beyond theforest--flown with no human hand at the controls by some sinisterforce which I could not fathom."Well," said a voice, again behind me, "we might as well be on our way.You realize, I presume, that you are our prisoner.""I realize nothing of the sort," I retorted. "If you want to take me,come and get me--come out in the open like men; if you are men.""Resistance will be futile," said the voice; "there are twenty of usand only one of you.""Who are you?" I demanded."Oh, pardon me," said the voice, "I should have introduced myself. I amPnoxus, son of Ptantus, jeddak of Invak; and whom have I had the honorof capturing?""You haven't had the honor of capturing me yet," I said. I didn't likethat voice--it was too oily and polite."You are most unco-operative," said the voice named Pnoxus. "I shouldhate to have to adopt unpleasant methods with you." The voice was notso sweet now; there was just a faint ring of steel in it."I don't know where you're hiding," I said; "but if you'll come out,all twenty of you, I'll give you a taste of steel. I have had enough ofthis foolishness.""And I've had enough," snapped the voice. Somehow it sounded like abear trap to me--all the oily sweetness had gone out of it. "Take him,men!"I looked quickly around for the men, but I was still alone--just I anda voice were there. At least that is what I thought until hands seizedmy ankles and jerked my feet from beneath me. I fell flat on my face,and what felt like half a dozen heavy men leaped on my back and half adozen hands ripped my sword from my grasp and more hands relieved me ofmy other weapons. Then unseen hands tied my own behind my back andothers fastened a rope around my neck, and the voice said, "Get up!"I got up. "If you come without resistance," said the voice namedPnoxus, "it will be much easier for you and for my men. Some of themare quite short tempered, and if you make it difficult for them you maynot get to Invak alive.""I will come," I said, "but where? For the rest, I can wait.""You will be led," said Pnoxus, "and see that you follow where you'reled. You've already given me enough trouble.""You won't know what trouble is until I can see you," I retorted."Don't threaten; you have already stored up enough trouble for yourself.""What became of the girl who was with me?" I demanded."I took a fancy to her," said Pnoxus, "and had one of my men, who canfly a ship, take her on to Invak."I cannot tell you what an eerie experience it was being led throughthat forest by men that I could not see and being talked to by a voicethat had no body; but when I realized that I was probably being takento the place that Llana of Gathol had been taken, I was content, nay,anxious, to follow docilely where I was led.I could see the rope leading from my neck out in front of me; it fellaway in a gentle curve as a rule and then gradually vanished,vignette-like; sometimes it straightened out suddenly, and then I wouldfeel a jerk at the back of my neck; but by following that ghostlyrope-end as it wound among the trees of the forest and watching thebight carefully, so as to anticipate a forthcoming jerk by thestraightening of the curve, I learned to avoid trouble.In front of me and behind I continually heard voices berating othervoices:"Sense where you're going, you blundering idiot," or, "Stop stepping onmy heels, you fool," or "Who do you think you're bumping into,son-of-a-calot!" The voices seemed to be constantly getting in oneanother's way. Serious as I felt my situation might be, I could nothelp but be amused.Presently I felt an arm brush against mine, or at least it felt like anarm, the warm flesh of a bare arm; it would touch me for an instantonly to be taken away immediately, and then it would touch me again ina measured cadence, as might the arms of two men walking out of stepside by side; and then a voice spoke close beside me, and I knew that avoice was walking with me."We are coming to a bad place," said the voice; "you had better take myarm."I groped out with my right hand and found an arm that I could not see.I grasped what felt like an upper arm, and as I did so my right handdisappeared! Now, my right arm ended at the wrist, or at least itappeared to do so; but I could feel my fingers clutching that arm thatI could not see. It was a most eerie sensation. I do not likesituations that I cannot understand.Almost immediately we came to an open place in the forest, where notrees grew.The ground was covered with tiny hummocks, and when I stepped on it itsank down a few inches. It was like walking on coil springs coveredwith turf."I'll guide you," said the voice at my side. "If you should get off thetrail here alone you'd be swallowed up. The worst that can happen toyou now would be to get one leg in it, for I can pull you out before itgets a good hold on you.""Thank you," I said; "it is very decent of you.""Think nothing of it," replied the voice. "I feel sorry for you; I amalways sorry for strangers whom Fate misguides into the forest ofInvak. We have another name for it which, I think, better describes it--The Forest of Lost Men.""It is really so bad to fall into the hands of your people?" I asked."I am afraid that it is," replied the voice; "there is no escape."I had heard that one before; so it didn't impress me greatly. Thelesser peoples of Barsoom are great braggarts; they always have thebest swordsmen, the finest cities, the most outstanding culture; andonce you fall into their hands, you are always doomed to death or alife of slavery--you can never escape them."May I ask you a question?" I inquired."Certainly," said the voice."Are you always only a voice?"A hand, I suppose it was his right hand, seized my arm and squeezed itwith powerful, though invisible, fingers; and whatever it was thatwalked beside me chuckled. "Does that feel like only a voice?" itasked."A stentorian voice," I said. "You seem to have the physical attributesof a flesh and blood man; have you a name?""Most assuredly; it is Kandus; and yours?" he asked politely."Dotar Sojat," I told him, falling back upon my well-worn pseudonym.We had now successfully crossed the bog, or whatever it was; and Iremoved my hand from Kandus's arm. Immediately I was wholly visibleagain, but Kandus remained only a voice. Again I walked alone, I and arope sticking out in front of me and apparently defying the law ofgravity. Even the fact that I surmised that the other end of it wasfastened to a voice did not serve to make it seem right; it was a mostindecent way for a rope to behave."'Dotar Sojat,'" repeated Kandus; "it sounds more like a green man'sname.""You are familiar with the green men?" I asked."Oh, yes; there is a horde which occasionally frequents the dead seabottoms beyond the forest; but they have learned to give us a wideberth. Notwithstanding their great size and strength, we have a distinctadvantage over them. As a matter of fact, I believe that they are verymuch afraid of us.""I can well imagine so; it is not easy to fight voices; there isnothing one may get one's sword into."Kandus laughed. "I suppose you would like to get your sword into me,"he said."Absolutely not," I said; "you have been very decent to me, but I don'tlike that voice which calls itself Pnoxus. I wouldn't mind crossingswords with it.""Not so loud," cautioned Kandus. "You must remember that he is thejeddak's son. We all have to be very nice to Pnoxus--no matter what we mayprivately think of him."I judged from that that Pnoxus was not popular. It is really amazinghow quickly one may judge a person by his voice; this had never been soforcibly impressed upon me before. Now, I had disliked the Pnoxus voicefrom the first, even when it was soft and oily, perhaps because ofthat; but I had liked the voice named Kandus--it was the voice of aman's man, open and without guile; a good voice."Where are you from, Dotar Sojat?" asked, Kandus."From Virginia," I said."That is a city of which I have never heard. In what country is it?""It is in the United States of America," I replied, "but you neverheard of that either.""No," he admitted; "that must be a far country.""It is a far country," I assured him, "some forty-three million milesfrom here.""You can talk as tall as you jump," he said. "I don't mind your jokingwith me," he added, "but I wouldn't get funny with Pnoxus, nor withPtantus, the jeddak, if I were you; neither one of them has a sense ofhumor.""But I was not joking," I insisted. "You have seen Jasoom in theheavens at night?""Of course," he replied."Well, that is the world I come from; it is called Earth there, andBarsoom is known as Mars.""You look and talk like an honorable man," said Kandus; "and, while Idon't understand, I am inclined to believe; however, you'd better pickout some place on Barsoom as your home when anyone else in Invakquestions you; and you may soon be questioned--here we are at thegates of the city now."Chapter 3Invak! The city in the Forest of Lost Men. At first only a gate wasvisible, so thickly set were the trees that hid the city wall--thetrees and the vines that covered the wall.I heard a voice challenge as we approached the gate, and I heardPnoxus' voice reply, "It is Pnoxus, the prince, with twenty warriorsand a prisoner.""Let one advance and give the countersign," said the voice.I was astonished that the guard at the gate couldn't recognize thejeddak's son, nor any of the twenty warriors with him. I suppose thatone of the voices advanced and whispered the countersign, for presentlya voice said, "Enter, Pnoxus, with your twenty warriors and yourprisoner."Immediately the gates swung open, and beyond I saw a lighted corridorand people moving about within it; then my rope tightened and I movedforward toward the gate; and ahead of me, one by one, armed mensuddenly appeared just beyond the threshold of the gateway; one afteranother they appeared as though materialized from thin air andcontinued on along the lighted corridor. I approached the gateapparently alone, but as I stepped across the threshold there was awarrior at my side where the voice of Kandus had walked.I looked at the warrior, and my evident amazement must have beenwritten large upon my face, for the warrior grinned. I glanced behindme and saw warrior after warrior materialize into a flesh and blood manthe moment that he crossed the threshold. I had walked through theforest accompanied only by voices, but now ten warriors walked ahead ofme and nine behind and one at my side."Are you Kandus?" I asked this one."Certainly," he said."How do you do it?" I exclaimed."It is very simple, but it is the secret of the Invaks," he replied. "Imay tell you, however, that we are invisible in daylight, or ratherwhen we are not illuminated by these special lamps which light ourcity. If you will notice the construction of the city as we proceed,you will see that we take full advantage of our only opportunity forvisibility.""Why should you care whether other people can see you or not?" I asked."Is it not sufficient that you can see them and yourselves?""Unfortunately, there is the hitch," he said. "We can see you, but wecan't see each other any more than you can see us."So that accounted for the grumbling and cursing I had heard upon themarch through the forest--the warriors had been getting in eachother's way because they couldn't see one another any more than I couldsee them."You have certainly achieved invisibility," I said, "or are you hatchedinvisible from invisible eggs?""No," he replied, "we are quite normal people; but we have learned tomake ourselves invisible."Just then I saw an open courtyard ahead of us, and as the warriorspassed out of the lighted corridor into it they disappeared. WhenKandus and I stepped out, I was walking alone again. It was mostuncanny.The city was spotted with these courtyards which gave ventilation tothe city which was, otherwise, entirely roofed and artificially lightedby the amazing lights which gave complete visibility to itsinhabitants. In every courtyard grew spreading trees, and upon thecity's roof vines had been trained to grow; so that, built as it was inthe center of the Forest of Lost Men, it was almost as invisible fromeither the ground or the air as were its people themselves.Finally we halted in a large courtyard in which were many trees whereiniron rings were set with chains attached to them, and here invisiblehands snapped around one of my ankles a shakle that was fastened to theend of one of these chains.Presently a voice whispered in my ear, "I will try to help you, for Ihave rather taken a liking to you--you've got to admire a man who canjump thirty feet into the air; and you've got to be interested in a manwho says he comes from another world forty-three million miles fromBarsoom."It was Kandus. I felt that I was fortunate in having even thesuggestion of a friend here, but I wondered what good it would do me.After all, Kandus was not the jeddak; and my fate would probably restin the hands of Ptantus.I could hear voices crossing and recrossing the courtyard. I could seepeople come down the corridors or streets and then fade intonothingness as they stepped out into the courtyard. I could see thebacks of men and women appear quite as suddenly in the entrances to thestreets as they left the courtyard. On several occasions voices stoppedbeside my tree and discussed me. They commented upon my light skin andgray eyes. One voice mentioned the great leap into the air that one ofmy captors had recounted to its owner.Once a delicate perfume stopped near me, and a sweet voice said, "Thepoor man, and he is so handsome!""Don't be a fool, Rojas," growled a masculine voice. "He is an enemy,and anyway he's not very good-looking.""I think he is very good-looking," insisted the sweet voice, and how doyou know he's an enemy?""I was not an enemy when I brought my ship down beside the forest," Isaid, "but the treatment I have received is fast making one of me.""There, you see," said the sweet voice; "he was not an enemy. What isyour name, poor man?""My name is Dotar Sojat, but I am not a 'poor man,'" I replied with alaugh."That may be what you think," said the masculine voice. "Come on,Rojas, before you make any bigger fool of yourself.""If you'll give me a sword and come out of your cowardly invisibility,I'll make a fool of you, calot," I said.An invisible, but very material, toe kicked me in the groin. "Keep yourplace, slave!" growled the voice.I lunged forward and, by chance, got my hands on the fellow; and then Iheld him by his harness for just long enough to feel for his face, andwhen I had located it I handed him a right upper-cut that must haveknocked him half way across the courtyard."That," I said, "will teach you not to kick a man who can't see you.""Did Motus kick you?" cried the sweet voice, only it wasn't so sweetnow; it was an angry voice, a shocked voice. "You looked as though youwere hitting him--I hope you did.""I did," I said, "and you had better see if there is a doctor in thehouse.""Where are you, Motus?" cried the girl.There was no response; Motus must have gone out like a light. Prettysoon I heard some lurid profanity, and a man's voice saying, "Who areyou, lying around here in the courtyard?" Some voice had evidentlystumbled over Motus."That must be Motus," I said in the general direction from which thegirl's voice had last come. "You'd better have him carried in.""He can lie there until he rots, for all I care," replied the voice asit trailed away. Almost immediately I saw the slim figure of a girlmaterialize in the entrance to one of the streets. I could tell fromher back that she was an angry girl, and if her back were any criterionshe was a beautiful girl--anyway, she had had a beautiful voice and agood heart. Perhaps these Invaks weren't such bad people after all.Chapter 4"That was a beauty that you handed Motus," said a voice behind me.I wasn't going to bother even to turn around. What was the use ofturning around and seeing no one there? But when the voice said, "I'llbet he's out for a week, the dirty Invak calot," I did turn around, forI knew no Invak had made a remark like that.Chained to a tree near me, I saw another red man (it is strange that Ishould always think of myself as a red man here on Barsoom; and yet,perhaps, not so strange after all. Except for my color, I am a red man--a red man in thought and feeling to the marrow of my bones. I nolonger ever think of myself as a Virginian, so ingrained has become mylove for this world of my adoption.) "Well, where did you come from?" Idemanded. "Are you one of the invisibles?""I am not," replied the man. "I have been here all along. When you werefirst brought I must have been asleep behind my tree, but the peoplestopping to comment on you awoke me. I heard you tell the girl thatyour name is Dotar Sojat. That is a strange name for a red man. Mine isPtor Fak; I am from Zodanga."Ptor Fak! I recalled him now; he was one of the three Ptor brothers whohad befriended me that time that I had wished to enter Zodanga insearch of Dejah Thoris. At first I hesitated to tell him who I reallywas; but then, knowing him to be an honorable man, I was about to whenhe suddenly exclaimed, "By the mother of the nearer moon! Those eyes,that skin!""S-h-h!" I cautioned. "I don't know the nature of these people yet, andso I thought it wiser to be Dotar Sojat.""If you're not Dotar Sojat, who are you?" demanded a voice at my elbow.That's the trouble with this invisibility business--a man can sneak upon you and eavesdrop, and you haven't the slightest idea that there isanyone near you."I am the Sultan of Swat," I said, that being the first name thatpopped into my head."What's a sultan?" demanded the voice."A jeddak of jeddaks," I replied."In what country?""In Swat.""I never heard of Swat," said the voice."Well, now that it's out, you had better tell your jeddak that he's gota sultan chained up here in his back yard."The voice must have gone away, for I heard it no more. Ptor Fak waslaughing. "I can see that things are going to brighten up a bit nowthat you are here," he said. "My deepest reverence for whichever one ofyour ancestors gave you a sense of humor. This is the first laugh Ihave had since they got me.""How long have you been here?""Several months. I was trying out a new motor that we have developed inZodanga and was trying to establish a record for a circumnavigation ofBarsoom at the Equator, and of course this place had to be on theEquator and right under me when my motor quit. How did you get here?""I had just escaped from Pankor with Llana, daughter of Gahan ofGathol, and we were on our way to Helium to bring back a fleet to teachHin Abtol a lesson. We had neither food nor water on our flier; so Ilanded beside this forest to get some. While I was in the forest, oneof these Invaks, invisible of course to Llana, climbed aboard the flierand took off with her; and twenty more of them jumped on me and took meprisoner.""A girl was with you! That is too bad. They may kill us, but they'llkeep her.""Pnoxus said that he had taken a fancy to her," I said, bitterly."Pnoxus is a calot and the son of a calot and the grandson of a calot,"said Ptor Fak, illuminatingly. Nothing could have evaluated Pnoxus moreconcisely."What will they do with us?" I asked. "Will we have any opportunity toescape that might also give me an opportunity to take Llana away?""Well, as long as they keep you chained to a tree, you can't escape;and that's what they've done with me ever since I've been here. I thinkthey intend to use us in some sort of Games, but just what they are Idon't know. Look!" he exclaimed, pointing and laughing.I looked in the direction he indicated and saw two men carrying thelimp form of a third down one of the streets."That must be Motus," said Ptor Fak. "I am afraid that may get you intotrouble," he added, suddenly sobered."Whatever trouble it gets me into, it was worth it," I said. "Think ofkicking a blind man, and that's what it amounted to. The girl was asmad about it as I; she must be a good sort. Rojas--that's rather apretty name.""The name of a noblewoman," said Ptor Fak."You know her?" I asked."No, but you can tell by the endings of their names whether or not theyare noble and by the beginnings and endings of their names if they'reroyal. The names of the noblemen end in us and the names of noblewomenin as. The names of royalty end the same way but always begin with twoconsonants, like Pnoxus and Ptantus.""Then Motus is a nobleman," I said."Yes; that is what is going to make it bad for you.""Tell me," I said; "how do they make themselves invisible?""They have developed something that gives them invisibility for perhapsa day; it is something they take internally--a large pill. Iunderstand that they take one every morning, so as to be sure that theywill be invisible if they have to go outside the city. You see it takesabout an hour for the stuff to work, and if the city were attacked byan enemy they'd be in a bad way if they had to go out and fight whilevisible.""What enemies can they have around here?" I asked. "Kandus told me thateven the green men are afraid of them."There is another city in the forest inhabited by an offshoot of thistribe," explained Ptor Fak; "it is called Onvak, and its people alsopossess the secret of invisibility. Occasionally the Onvaks come andattack Invak, or lie in wait for the Invak hunting parties when they goout into the forest.""I should think it might be rather difficult to fight a battle in whichone could see neither foe nor friend," I suggested."Yes; I understand that there's never very much damage done, thoughoccasionally they capture a prisoner. The last battle they had theInvaks took two prisoners, and when they got them into the city theydiscovered that they were both their own men. The never know how manyof their own people they kill; they just go slashing about them withtheir swords, and Issus help whoever gets in the way."Just as Ptor Fak finished speaking I felt hands doing something to theshackles about my ankles and presently they were unlocked and removed."Come, slave," said the voice. Then someone took me by the arm and ledme toward the entrance to one of the streets.The moment we entered I could see a warrior at my side and there wereothers in front and behind me. They conducted me along this streetthrough two other courtyards in which, of course, they immediatelybecame invisible and I seemed to be walking alone with only thepressure of a hand upon my arm to indicate that I was not. They took meto a large room in which a number of people were standing about infront of and on either side of a desk at which there sat a scowling,fierce visaged man.I was led up to the desk and halted there and the man behind itsurveyed me in silence for several seconds. His harness was extremelyelaborate, the leather being beautifully carved and studded withprecious stones. The hilt of his sword which I could just see above thedesk was apparently of gold and it too was studded with those rare andbeautiful gems of Barsoom which defy description in words of earthlyorigin. Encircling his brow was a diadem of carved leather upon thefront of which the Barsoomian hieroglyphs which spelled jeddak wereemblazoned in precious stones. So this was Ptantus, jeddak of Invak. Ifelt that Llana and I could not have fallen into much worse hands.Chapter 5Ptantus looked at me so ferociously that I was sure he was attemptingto frighten me. It seems to be a way that tyrants and bullies have ofattempting to break down the morale of a victim before they destroyhim; but I was not greatly impressed; and, impelled by a rather foolishdesire to annoy him, I stopped looking at him. I guess that got hisgoat for he thumped the desk with his fist and leaned forward acrossit."Slave!" he almost roared at me, "pay attention to me.""You haven't said anything yet," I reminded him. "When you say anythingworth listening to I shall listen, but you don't have to yell at me."He turned angrily to an officer. "Don't ever dare to bring a prisonerbefore me again," he said, "until he has been instructed how to behavein the presence of a jeddak.""I know how to behave in the presence of a jeddak," I told him, "I havebeen in the presence of some of the greatest jeddaks on Barsoom, and Itreat a jeddak just as I treat any other man--as he deserves. If he isa nobleman at heart he has my deference, if he is a boor he does not."The inference was clear, and Ptantus colored. "Enough of yourinsolence," he said. "I understand that you are a troublesome fellow,that you gave Pnoxus, the prince, a great deal of trouble after yourcapture and that you struck and badly injured one of my nobles.""That man may have a title," I said, "but he is no noble; he kicked mewhile he was invisible--it was the same as kicking a blind man.""That is right," said a girlish voice a little way behind me and at oneside. I turned and looked. It was Rojas."You saw this thing done, Rojas?" demanded Ptantus."Yes, Motus insulted me; and this man, Dotar Sojat, berated him for it.Then Motus kicked him.""Is this true, Motus?" asked Ptantus, turning his head and looking pastme on the other side. I turned and glanced in that direction and sawMotus with his face swathed in bandages; he was a sorry looking sight."I gave the slave what he deserves," he growled; "he is an insolentfellow.""I quite agree with you," said Ptantus, "and he shall die when the timecomes. But I did not summon him here to conduct a trial. I, the jeddak,reach my decisions without testimony or advice. I sent for him because anofficer said he could leap thirty feet into the air; and if he can dothat it may be worth keeping him a while for my amusement."I couldn't help but smile a little at that for it had been my abilityto jump that had probably preserved my life upon my advent to Barsoomso many years ago, when I had been captured by the green hordes ofThark, and Tars Tarkas had ordered me to sak for the edification ofLorquas Ptomel, the jed, and now it was going to give me at least ashort reprieve from death."Why do you smile?" demanded Ptantus. "Do you see anything funny inthat? Now jump, and be quick about it."I looked up at the ceiling. It was only about fifteen feet from thefloor. "That would be only a hop," I said."Well hop then," said Ptantus.I turned and looked behind me. For about twenty feet between me and thedoorway men and women were crowded thickly together. Thanking my greatagility and the lesser gravity of Mars, I easily jumped completely overthem. I could have made a bolt for the door then, leaped to the roof ofthe city and made my escape; and I should have done it had it not beenthat Llana, of Gathol was still a prisoner here.Exclamations of surprise filled the room at this, to them, marvelousfeat of agility; and when I leaped back again there was almost a rippleof applause."What else can you do?" demanded Ptantus."I can make a fool out of Motus with a sword," I said, "as well as withmy fists, if he will meet me under the lights where I can see him."Ptantus actually laughed. "I think I shall let you do that sometimewhen I am through with you," he said, "for Motus will most certainlykill you. There is probably not a better swordsman on all Barsoom thanthe noble Motus.""I shall be delighted to let him try it," I said, "and I can promiseyou that I shall still be able to jump after I have killed Motus. But,if you really want to see some jumping," I continued, "take me and thegirl who was captured with me out into the forest, and we will show yousomething worthwhile." If I could only get outside the gates with LlanaI knew that we should be able to get away, for I could outdistance anyof them even if I had to carry her."Take him back and lock him up," said Ptantus; "I have seen and heardenough for today;" so they took me back into the courtyard and chainedme to my tree."Well," said Ptor Fak, after he thought the guards had left, "how didyou get along?"I told him all that had transpired in the jeddak's presence; and hesaid he hoped that I would get a chance to meet Motus, as Ptor Fak wellknew my reputation as a swordsman.After dark that night, a voice came out and sat down beside me. It wasKandus."It's a good thing you jumped for Ptantus today," he said, "the olddevil thought Pnoxus had been lying to him and after it had beendemonstrated that you could not jump Ptantus was going to have youdestroyed immediately in a very unpleasant way he has of dealing withthose who have aroused his anger or resentment.""I hope I can keep on amusing him for a while," I said."The end will be the same eventually," said Kandus, "but if there isanything I can do to make your captivity easier for you I shall be gladto do it.""It would relieve my mind if you could tell me what has become of thegirl who was captured at the same time that I was."She is confined in the quarters of the female slaves. It's over onthat side of the city beyond the palace," and he nodded in thatdirection."What do you think is going to happen to her?" I asked."Ptantus and Pnoxus are quarreling about her," he replied; "they arealways quarreling about something; they hate each other. Because Pnoxuswants her Ptantus doesn't want him to have her; and so, for the timebeing at least, she is safe. I must go now," he added a moment later,and I could tell from the direction of his voice that he had arisen."If there is anything I can do for you be sure to let me know.""If you could bring me a piece of wire," I said, "I would appreciateit.""What do you want of wire?" he asked."Just to pass the time," I said; "I bend them around in differentshapes and make little figures of them to amuse myself. I am notaccustomed to being chained to a tree, and time is going to hang veryheavy on my hands.""Certainly," he said, "I'll be glad to bring you a piece of wire; I'llbe back with it in just a moment, and until then good-by.""You are fortunate to have made a friend here," said Ptor Fak; "I'vebeen here several months and I haven't made one.""I think it was my jumping," I said; "it has served me in good steadbefore and in many ways."It was not long before Kandus returned with the wire. I thanked him andhe left immediately.It was night now and both moons were in the sky. Their soft lightilluminated the courtyard, while the swift flight of Thuria across thevault of heaven swept the shadows of the trees into constantly changingmovement across the scarlet sward, turned purple now in the moonlight.Ptor Fak's chain and mine were sufficiently long to just permit us tosit side by side, and I could see that his curiosity was aroused by myrequest for a piece of wire by the fact that he kept watching it in myhand. Finally he could contain himself no longer. "What are you goingto do with that wire?" he asked."You'd be surprised," I said; and then I paused for I felt a presencenear me, "at the clever things one may do with a piece of wire."Chapter 6Were I to live here in Invak the rest of my life I am sure I couldnever accustom myself to these uncanny presences, or to the knowledgethat someone might always be standing close to me listening toeverything that I said to Ptor Fak.Presently I felt a soft hand upon my arm, and then that same sweetvoice that I had heard before said, "It is Rojas.""I am glad that you came," I said. "I wished an opportunity to thankyou for the testimony you gave in my behalf before Ptantus today.""I'm afraid it didn't do you much good," she replied; "Ptantus doesn'tlike me.""Why should he dislike you?" I asked."Pnoxus wanted me as his mate and I refused him; so, though Ptantusdoesn't like Pnoxus, his pride was hurt; and he has been venting hisspleen on my family ever since." She moved closer to me, I could feelthe warmth of her arm against mine as she leaned against me. "DotarSojat," she said, "I wish that you were an Invak so that you mightremain here forever in safety.""That is very sweet of you, Rojas," I said, "but I am afraid that Fatehas ordained it otherwise."The soft arm stole up around my shoulders. The delicate perfume whichhad first announced her presence to me that afternoon, filled mynostrils and I could feel her warm breath upon my cheek. "Would youlike to stay here, Dotar Sojat," she paused, "-with me?"The situation was becoming embarrassing. Even Ptor Fak was embarrassedand there were no soft invisible arms about his neck. I knew that hewas embarrassed because he had moved away from us the full length ofhis chain. Of course he couldn't see Rojas any more than I could but hemust have heard her words; and, being a gentleman, he had removedhimself as far as possible; and now he sat there with his back towardus. Being made love to by a beautiful girl in a moonlit garden may beromantic, but if the girl is wholly invisible it is like being madelove to by a ghost; though I can assure you that Rojas didn't feel likea ghost at all."You have not answered me, Dotar Sojat," she said.I have never loved but one woman--my incomparable Dejah Thoris; nor doI, like some men, run around pretending love for other women. So, asyou say in America, I was on the spot. They say that all is fair inlove and war; and as far as I was concerned I, personally, wasdefinitely at war with Invak. Here was an enemy girl whose loyalty Icould win or whose bitter hatred I could incur by my reply.Had I had only myself to consider I should not have hesitated; but thefate of Llana of Gathol outweighted all other considerations, and so Itemporized."No matter how much I should like to be with you always, Rojas," Isaid, "I know that is impossible. I shall be here only subject to thewhims of your jeddak and then death will separate us forever.""Oh, no, Dotar Sojat," she cried, drawing my cheek close to hers, "youmust not die--for I love you.""But Rojas," I expostulated, "how can you love a man whom you haveknown for only a few hours and seen but for a few minutes?""I knew that I loved you the moment that I set eyes upon you," shereplied, "and I've seen you for a great many more than a few minutes. Ihave been almost constantly in the courtyard since I first saw you,watching you. I know every changing expression of your face. I haveseen the light of anger, and of humor, and of friendship in your eyes.Had I known you all my life I could not know you better. Kiss me, DotarSojat," she concluded. And, then I did something for which I shallprobably always be ashamed. I took Rojas in my arms and kissed her.Did you ever hold a ghost in your arms and kiss her? It humiliates meto admit that it was not an unpleasant experience. But Rojas clung tome so tightly and for so long that I was covered with confusion andembarrassment."Oh, that we could be always thus," sighed Rojas.Personally I thought that however pleasant, it might be a littleinconvenient.However, I said, "Perhaps you will come often again, Rojas, before Idie.""Oh, don't speak of death," she cried."But you know yourself that Ptantus will have me killed--unless Iescape.""Escape!" She scarcely breathed the word."But I suppose there will be no escape for me," I added, and I triednot to sound too hopeful."Escape," she said again, "Escape! ah if I could but go with you.""Why not?" I asked. I had gone this far and I felt that I might as wellgo all the way if by so doing I could release Llana of Gathol fromcaptivity."Yes, why not?" repeated Rojas, "but how?""If I could become invisible," I suggested.She thought that over for a moment and then said, "It would be treason.It would mean death, a horrible death, were I apprehended.""I couldn't ask that of you," I said, and I felt like a hypocrite forthat I knew that I could ask it of her if I thought that she would doit. I would willingly have sacrificed the life of every person inInvak, including my own, if thereby I could have liberated Llana ofGathol. I was desperate, and when a man is desperate he will resort toany means to win his point."I am most unhappy here," said Rojas, in a quite natural and humanattempt at self-justification. "Of course, if we were successful,"continued Rojas, "it wouldn't make any difference who knew what I haddone because they could never find us again. We would both beinvisible, and together we could make our way to your country." She wasplanning it all out splendidly."Do you know where the flier is that brought the girl prisoner?" Iasked."Yes, it was landed on the roof of the city.""That will simplify matters greatly," I said. "If we all becomeinvisible we can reach it and escape with ease.""What do you mean 'all'?" she demanded."Why I want to take Ptor Fak with me," I said, "and Llana of Gathol whowas captured the same time I was."Rojas froze instantly and her arms dropped from about me. "Not thegirl," she said."But, Rojas, I must save her," I insisted. There was no reply. I waiteda moment and then I said, "Rojas!" but she did not answer, and a momentlater I saw her slim back materialize in the entrance to one of thestreets opposite me. A slim back surmounted by a defiantly held head.That back radiated feminine fury.Chapter 7After Rojas left I was plunged almost into the depths of despair. Hadshe but waited I could have explained everything and the four of usmight have escaped.I will admit that I have never been able to fathom the ways of women,but I felt that Rojas would never return. I presume that my convictionwas influenced by those lines from The Mourning Bride, "Heaven has norage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."However, I did not give up hope entirely--I never do. Instead ofrepining, I went to work on the lock of my shackle with the bit of wirethat Kandus had brought me. Ptor Fak moved over to watch me. I satfacing my tree, close to it, and bending over my work; and Ptor Fakleaned close and bent over it too. We were trying to hide from preyingeyes the thing that I was attempting to do; and as it was now late atnight we hoped that there would be no one in the courtyard other thanourselves.At last I found the combination and after that it took me only a fewseconds to unlock Ptor Fak's shackle. Then a voice behind us spoke."What are you doing?" it demanded; "why are you not asleep?""How can we sleep with people constantly annoying us?" I asked, hidingthe wire beneath me."Stand up," said the voice, and as we stood up the shackles fell awayfrom our ankles."I thought so," said the voice. Then I saw the piece of wire rise fromthe ground and disappear. "You are very clever, but I don't thinkPtantus will appreciate your cleverness when he hears about this. Ishall set a guard to watch you two constantly hereafter.""Everything is going wrong," I said to Ptor Fak a moment later, after Isaw a warrior enter one of the streets, hoping that it was he who hadspoken to us and that there were no others around."It seems hopeless, doesn't it?" said Ptor Fak."No," I snapped, "not while I still live."The following afternoon Kandus' voice came and sat down beside me. "Howgoes it?" he asked."Terrible," I said."How is that?" he asked."I can't tell you," I said, "because there is probably a guard standingright here listening to everything that I say.""There is no one here but us," said Kandus."How do you know?" I asked; "your people are as invisible to you asthey are to me.""We learn to sense the presence of others," he explained; "just how, Ican't tell you.""How you do it is immaterial," I said, "as long as you are sure thereis no one here listening to us. I will be perfectly frank with you, Isucceeded in removing Ptor Fak's shackle and my own. Someone caught meat it and took the piece of wire away from me." I did not tell Kandusthat I had broken the wire he had given me in two and that I still hadthe other half of it in my pocket pouch. There is no use in tellingeven a friend everything that you know."How in the world could you have hoped to escape even if you couldremove your shackles?" he asked."It was only the first step," I told him. "We really had no plan, butwe knew that we certainly could not escape as long as we wereshackled."Kandus laughed. "There is something in that," he said, and then he wassilent for a moment. "The girl who was captured with you," he saidpresently."What of her?" I asked."Ptanus has given her to Motus," he replies; "it was all done verysuddenly. Why, no one seems to know, because Ptantus hasn't any particularlove for Motus."If Kandus didn't know why, I thought that I did. I saw Rojas's hand anda green-eyed devil in it--jealousy is a heartless monster. "Will youdo something more for me, Kandus?" I asked."Gladly, if I can," he replied."It may seem like a very silly request," I said, "but please don't askme to explain. I want you to go to Rojas and tell her that Llana ofGathol, the girl that Ptantus has given to Motus, is the daughter of mydaughter." It may seem strange to you denizens of earth that Rojascould have become infatuated with a grandfather, but you must rememberthat Mars is not Earth and that I am unlike all other Earth-men. I donot know how old I am. I recall no childhood. It seems to me that havejust always been, and I have always been the same. I look now as I didwhen I fought with the Confederate army during the Civil War--a man ofabout thirty. And here on Barsoom, where the natural span of life isaround a thousand years and people do not commence to show the ravagesof old age until just shortly before dissolution, differences in age donot count. You might fall in love with a beautiful girl on Barsoom;and, as far as appearances were concerned, she might be seventeen orshe might be seven hundred."Of course I don't understand," said Kandus, "but I'll do what you ask.""And now another favor," I said. "Ptantus half promised me that hewould let me duel with Motus and he assured me that Motus would killme. Is there any possible way of arranging for that duel to be foughttoday?""He will kill you," said Kandus."That is not what I asked," I said."I don't know how it could be done," said Kandus."Now if Ptantus has any sporting blood," I suggested, "and likes to laya wager now and then, you bet him that if Motus will fight me whileMotus is still visible, that he cannot kill me but that I can kill himwhenever I choose.""But you can't do it," said Kandus. "Motus is the best swordsman onBarsoom. You would be killed and I should lose my money.""How can I convince you?" I said. "I know that I can kill Motus in afight. If I had anything of value, I would give it to you as securityfor your wager.""I have something of value," said Ptor Fak, "and I would wager it andeverything that I could scrape together on Dotar Sojat." He reachedinto his pocket pouch and drew froth a gorgeous jewelled medallion."This," he said to Kandus, "is worth a jeddak's ransom--take it assecurity and place its value on Dotar Sojat."A second later the medallion disappeared in thin air, and we knew thatKandus had reached out his hand and taken it."I'll have to go inside and examine it," said Kandus' voice, "for ofcourse I cannot see it now that it has become invisible. I'll not begone long.""That is very decent of you, Ptor Fak," I said, "that medallion must bealmost invaluable.""One of my remote ancestors was a jeddak," explained Ptor Fak; "thatmedallion belonged to him, and it has been in the family for thousandsof years.""You must be quite certain of my swordsmanship," I said."I am," he replied; "but even had I been less certain, I should havedone the same.""That is friendship," I said, "and I appreciate it.""It is priceless," said a voice at my side, and I knew that Kandus hadreturned."I will go at once and see what can be done about the duel.""Don't forget what I asked you to tell Rojas," I reminded him.Chapter 8After Kandus left us, time dragged heavily. The afternoon wore on andit became so late that I was positive that he had failed in hismission. I was sitting dejectedly thinking of the fate that was so soonto overtake Llana of Gathol. I knew that she would destroy herself, andI was helpless to avert the tragedy.And, while I was thus sunk in the depths of despair, a hand was placedon mine.A soft hand; and a voice said, "Why didn't you tell me?""You didn't give me a chance," I said; "you just ran out on me withoutgiving me a chance to explain.""I am sorry," said the voice, "and I am sorry for the harm I have doneLlana of Gathol; and now I have condemned you to death.""What do you mean?" I asked."Ptantus has commanded Motus to fight you and kill you."I threw my arms around Rojas and kissed her. I couldn't help it, I wasso happy."Good!" I exclaimed. "Though neither of us realized it at the time, youhave done me a great favor.""What do you mean?" she demanded."You have given me the chance to meet Motus in a fair fight; and now Iknow that Llana of Gathol will be safe--as far as Motus is concerned.""Motus will kill you," insisted Rojas."Will you be there to see the duel?" I asked."I do not wish to see you killed," she said, and clung to me tightly."You haven't a thing to worry about, I shall not be killed; and Motuswill never have Llana of Gathol or any other woman.""You can tell his friends to start digging his grave immediately," saidPtor Fak."You are that sure?" said Rojas."We have the princess," said Ptor Fak, which is the same as saying inAmerica "It is in the bag." The expression derives from the Barsoomianchess game, jetan, in which the taking of a princess decides the winnerand ends the game."I hope you are right," said Rojas. "At least you have encouraged me tobelieve, and it is not so difficult to believe anything of DotarSojat.""Do you know when I am to fight Motus?" I asked."This evening," replied Rojas, "before the whole Court in the throneroom of the palace.""And after I have killed him?" I asked."That is to be feared, too," said Rojas, "for Ptantus will be furious.He will not only have lost a fighting man but all the money he haswagered on the duel.""But it will soon be time," she added, "and I must go now." I saw heropen my pocket pouch and drop something into it, and then she was gone.I knew from the surreptitious manner in which she had done it that shedid not wish anyone to know what she had put in my pocket pouch, or infact that she had put anything into it; and so I did not investigateimmediately, fearing that someone may have been watching and had theirsuspicions aroused. The constant strain of feeling that unseen eyes maybe upon you, and that unseen ears may be listening to your every wordwas commencing to tell upon me; and I was becoming as nervous as a catwith seven kittens.After a long silence Ptor Fak said, "What are you going to do withher?"I knew what he meant; because the same question had been worrying me."If we succeed in getting out of this," I said, "I am going to take herback to Helium with me and let Dejah Thoris convince her that there area great many more charming men that I there." I had had other womenfall in love with me and this would not be the first time that DejahThoris had unscrambled things for me. For she knew that no matter howmany women loved me, she was the only woman whom I loved."You are a brave man," said Ptor Fak."You say that because you do not know Dejah Thoris," I replied; "it isnot that I am a brave man, it is that she is a wise woman."That started me off again thinking about her, although I must confessthat she is seldom absent from my thoughts. I could picture her now inour marble palace in Helium, surrounded by the brilliant men and womenwho crowd her salons. I could feel her hand in mine as we trod thestately Barsoomian dances she loves so well. I could see her as thoughshe were standing before me this minute, and I could see Thuvia ofPtarth, and Carthoris, and Tara of Helium, and Gahan of Gathol. Thatmagnificent coterie of handsome men and beautiful women bound togetherby ties of love and marriage. What memories they evoked!A soft hand caressed my cheek and a voice, tense with nervousness said,"Live! Live for me! I shall return at midnight and you must be here;"then she was gone.For some reason or other which I cannot explain, her words quieted mynerves.They gave me confidence that at midnight I should be free. Her presencereminded me that she had dropped something into my pocket pouch and Iopened it casually and put my hand into it. My fingers came in contactwith a number of spheres, about the size of marbles, and I knew thatthe secret of invisibility was mine.I moved close to Ptor Fak; and once again with the remaining bit ofwire I picked the lock of his shackle, and then I handed him one of thespheres that Rojas had given me.I leaned very close to his ear. "Take this," I whispered; "in an houryou will be invisible. Go to the far end of the courtyard and wait.When I return I too shall be invisible and when I whistle thus, answerme." I whistled a few of the opening notes of the national anthem ofHelium, a signal that Dejah Thoris and I had often used."I understand," said Ptor Fak."What do you understand?" demanded a voice.Doggonit! there was that invisibility nemesis again and now all ourplans might be knocked into a cocked hat. How much had the fellowheard? What had he seen? I trembled inwardly, fearing the answer. ThenI felt hands at my ankle and saw my shackle fall open."Well," repeated the voice peremptorially, "what was it that youunderstood?""I was just telling Ptor Fak," I said, "how I was going to kill Motus,and he said he understood perfectly.""So you think you are going to kill Motus, do you?" demanded the voice."Well, you are going to be very much surprised for a few minutes, andafter that you will be dead. Come along with me; the duel is about totake place."I breathed a sigh of relief. The fellow had evidently seen or heardnothing of any importance."I'll see you later, Ptor Fak," I said."Good-by and good luck," he replied. And then, accompanied by thewarrior, I entered a city street on my way to the throne room ofPtantus, jeddak of Invak.Chapter 9"So you think you're pretty good with the sword," said the warriorwalking at my side and who was now visible to me."Yes," I replied."Well, you're going to get a lesson in swordsmanship tonight. Of courseit won't do you much good because after it is all over you will bedead.""You are very encouraging," I said, "but if you are fond of Motus, Isuggest that you save your encouragement for him. He is going to needit.""I am not fond of Motus," said the warrior; "no one is fond of Motus.He is a calot and I apologize to calots for the comparison. I hope thatyou kill him but of course you won't. He always kills his man, but heis tricky. Watch out for that.""You mean he doesn't fight fair?" I asked."No one ever taught him the word," said the warrior."Well, thank you for warning me," I said; "I hope you stay to see thefight, maybe you will be surprised.""I shall certainly stay to see it," he said. "I wouldn't miss it forthe world. But I am not going to be surprised; I know just what willhappen. He will play with you for about five minutes and then he'll runyou through; and that won't please Ptantus for he likes a long drawn outduel.""Oh, he does does he?" I said. "Well, he shall have it." That fitted inperfectly with my plans. I had swallowed one of the invisibilityspheres just before the warrior unshackled me, and I knew that it wouldtake about an hour for it to effect perfect invisibility. It might bedifficult to drag the duel out for an hour, but I hoped to gain alittle time by stalling up to the moment that we crossed swords. And Iaccomplished it now by walking slowly to kill as much time as possible,and twice I stopped to tighten the fastenings of my sandals."What's the matter?" demanded the warrior. "Why do you walk so slow?Are you afraid?""Terrified," I replied. "Everyone has told me how easily Motus is goingto kill me. Do you think that a man wants to run to his death?""Well, I don't blame you much," said the warrior, "and I won't hurryyou.""A lot of you Invaks are pretty good fellows," I remarked."Of course we are," he said. "What made you think anything different?""Pnoxus, Motus, and Ptantus," I replied.The warrior grinned. "I guess you are a pretty shrewd fellow," he said,"to have sized them up this quickly.""Everybody seems to hate them," I said; "why don't you get rid of them?I'll start you off by getting rid of Motus tonight.""You may be a good swordsman," said the warrior, "but you are braggingtoo much; I never knew a braggart yet who could 'take the princess.'""I am not bragging," I said; "I only state facts." As a matter of fact,I often realize that in speaking of my swordsmanship, it may sound toothers as though I were bragging but really I do not feel that I ambragging. I know that I am the greatest swordsman of two worlds. Itwould be foolish for me to simper, and suck my finger, and say that Iwas not. I am, and everyone who has seen me fight knows that I am. Isit braggadocio to state a simple fact? It has saved a number of lives,for it has kept no end of brash young men from challenging me.Fighting has been, you might say, my life's work. There is not a lethalweapon in the use of which I do not excel, but the sword is myfavorite. I love a good blade and I love a good fight and I hoped thattonight I should have them both.I hoped that Motus was all that they thought him. The thought mighthave obtruded on the consciousness of some men that perhaps he was, butno such idea ever entered my head. They say that overconfidence oftenleads to defeat, but I do not think that I am ever overconfident. I ammerely wholly confident, and I maintain that there is all thedifference in the world there.At last we came to the throne room. It was not the same room in which Ihad first seen Ptantus; it was a much larger room, a more ornate room;and at one side of it was a raised dias on which were two thrones. Theywere empty now, for the jeddak and the jeddara had not yet appeared.The floor of the room was crowded with nobles and their women. Alongthree sides of the room were several tiers of benches, temporaryaffairs, which had evidently been brought in for the occasion. Theywere covered with gay cloths and cushions; but they were still empty,for, of course, no one could sit until the jeddak came and was seated.As I was brought into the room, a number of people called attention tome and soon many eyes were upon me.In my well-worn fighting harness, I looked rather drab in the midst ofthis brilliant company with their carved leather harness studded withjewels. The Invaks, like most of the red nations of Barsoom, are ahandsome people and those in the throne room of this tiny nation,hidden away in the Forest of Lost Men, made a brave appearance beneaththe strange and beautiful lights which gave them visibility.I heard many comments concerning me. One woman said, "He does not looklike a Barsoomian at all.""He is very handsome," said a sweet voice, which I immediatelyrecognized; and for the second time I looked Rojas in the face. As oureyes met I could see her tremble. She was a beautiful girl, by far themost beautiful of all the women in the room, I am sure."Let's talk with him," she said to a woman and two men standing with her."That would be interesting," said the woman, and the four of themwalked toward me.Rojas looked me square in the eye. "What is your name?" she asked,without a flicker of recognition."Dotar Sojat," I replied."The Sultan of Swat," said one of the men, "whatever a sultan is andwherever Swat may be." I could scarcely repress a smile."Where is Swat?" inquired the woman."In India," I replied."I think the fellow is trying to make fools of us," snapped one of themen. "He is just making up those names. There are no such places onBarsoom.""I didn't say they were on Barsoom," I retorted. "They are forty-threemillion miles from Barsoom.""If they're not on Barsoom, where are they?" demanded the man."On Jasoom," I replied."Come," said the man, "I have had enough of this slave's insolence.""I find him very interesting," said the woman."So do I," said Rojas."Well, enjoy it while you may," said the man, "for in a few minutes hewill be dead.""Have you laid a wager on that?" I asked."I couldn't find anyone to bet against Motus," he growled. "Kandus wasthe only fool to do that and the jeddak covered his entire wager.""That is too bad," I said; "someone is losing an opportunity to makesome money.""Do you think you will win?" asked Rojas, trying to conceal theeagerness in her voice."Of course I shall win," I replied. "I always do. You look like a veryintelligent girl," I said, "if I may speak to you alone I will tell youa little secret."She saw that I had something that I wished to say to her in private,but I will admit that I had put her in rather an embarrassing position.However, the other woman helped me out.""Go ahead, Rojas," she urged. "I think it would be fun to hear what hehas to say."Thus encouraged Rojas took me to one side. "What is it?" she asked."Llana of Gathol," I said. "How are we to get her?"She caught her breath. "I never thought of that," she said."Could you get one of those invisibility spheres to her right away?" Iasked."For you, yes," she said. "For you I would do anything.""Good; and tell her to come out into the courtyard by the quarters ofthe slave women. A little after midnight she will hear me whistle. Shewill recognize the air. She must answer and then wait for me. Will youdo that for me, Rojas?""Yes, but what excuse am I to make for leaving my friends?""Tell them you are going to get some money to wager on me," I said.Rojas smiled. "That is a splendid idea," she said. And a moment latershe had made her explanations to her friends and I saw her leave thethrone room.Chapter 10The crowd was growing restless waiting for the jeddak, but I was morethan pleased by this delay as it would shorten the time that I shouldhave to wait before I could achieve invisibility.It seemed now that everything had been nicely arranged; and when I sawRojas return to the throne room and she gave me a quick fleeting smile,I was convinced that almost the last of my worries were over. There wasreally only one doubt remaining in my mind, and that was as to whatmight happen to me after I had killed Motus. I had no doubt but thatPtantus would be furious; and being a tyrant with the reactions of atyrant, he might order my immediate death.Anticipating this, however, I had decided to make a run for the nearestcourtyard; and if sufficient time had elapsed since I had taken theinvisibility sphere, I would only have to step out into the open toelude them. And, once in one of the courtyards, and invisible, I knewthat I could escape.Suddenly trumpets blared and the people fell back to each side of thethrone room. Then, preceded by the trumpeters, Ptantus and his jeddaraentered the throne room accompanied by a band of gorgeously trappedcourtiers.I glanced at the great clock on the wall. It was exactly the 8th zodewhich is the equivalent of 10:48 P.M. Earth time. By midnight Llana ofGathol would have achieved invisibility--if Rojas had given her thesphere. That was the question. Yet I felt that Rojas had not failed me.I firmly believed that she had done her part.The royal pair made their way slowly across the room to the dais andseated themselves upon their thrones, whereat the nobles and theirwomen found their places on the benches.From somewhere Motus had appeared; and he, and a noble who accompaniedhim, and I, and my warrior guard, were alone upon the floor. A fifthman then appeared who I later discovered was what you might call areferee, or umpire. He summoned me forward, and the five of us advancedand stopped before the throne."I bring you the noble Motus," he said addressing Ptantus, "and DotarSojat, the Sultan of Swat, who are to duel to the death withlong-swords."The jeddak nodded. "Let them fight," he said, "and see that you fightfair," he added, glaring directly at me."And, I suppose that Motus does not have to fight fair," I said; "butthat is immaterial to me. I shall kill him however he fights."The referee was almost beside himself with embarrassment. "Silence,slave!" he whispered. He carried an extra sword which he handed to meand then motioned us to cross swords.Instead of adhering to this honorable custom, Motus lunged for myheart."That was unwise, Motus," I said, as I parried the thrust; "I am goingto make you suffer a little more for that.""Silence, slave," demanded the referee."Silence yourself, calot," I replied, "and get out of my way. I am notsupposed to be fighting two men," I pricked Motus on the right breastand brought blood, "but I shall be glad too if you will draw."Motus came at me again, but he was wary and he was a good swordsman."Your face is all black and swollen, Motus," I said; "it looks as ifsomeone had hit you, for that is what a son-of-a-calot is apt to getwhen he kicks a blind man.""Silence," screamed the referee.I fought on the defensive at first with one eye on the great clock. Ithad been over half an hour since I had taken the invisibility sphere,and I planned on letting Motus live another half hour so as to be quitesure that I had gained potential invisibility before I finished himoff.By fighting on the defensive, I compelled Motus to do all the work; andby repeatedly side-stepping his most vicious lunges, letting them slipoff my blade so that he had to leap quickly back, I subjected him toconsiderable nervous as well as physical strain, so that presently thesweat was streaming down his body. And, now I commenced to touch himhere and there; and blood mixed with the sweat until he was a sorrylooking spectacle, although nowhere had he received a severe wound.The crowd was all on Motus's side; that is, all who were vocal. I knewof two at least who hoped that I would win, and I guess that there weremany others who disliked Motus but who dared not cheer on an alien anda slave."You are tiring, Motus," I said to him; "hadn't you better finish meoff now before you become wholly exhausted?""I'll finish you off all right, slave," he came back, "if you'll standstill and fight.""It is not time to kill you yet, Motus," I said, glancing up at theclock, "when the hand points to eleven xats past the 8th zode, I shallkill you.""Silence," screeched the referee."What is the slave saying?" demanded Ptantus in stentorian tones."I said," I shouted back at him, "that I should kill Motus at exactly 8zodes, 11 xats. Watch the clock, Ptantus, for at that instant you aregoing to lose your wager, and Motus his life.""Silence," commanded the jeddak."Now, Motus," I whispered, "I am going to show you how easily I cankill you when the time comes," and with that I disarmed him and, senthis sword clattering across the floor.A mighty gasp arose from the audience, for now under the rules of aduel of this nature, I was at liberty to run Motus through the heart;but instead I rested my point upon the floor and turned to the referee."Go and fetch Motus's sword," I said, "and return it to him."Motus was trembling a little. I could see his knees shake though almostimperceptibly. I knew then what I had suspected before--Motus wasyellow.While the referee was retrieving Motus' sword, a little ripple ofapplause ran through the stands. But Ptantus only sat and scowled morefiercely; I fear that Ptantus did not like me.When Motus' sword was returned to him, he came for me furiously; and Iknew perfectly well what was in his mind; he was going to finish me offimmediately.I disarmed him again; and again I lowered my point, while the refereewithout waiting to be told ran after the blade.Now Motus was more wary. I could see that he was trying to work mearound to some position in which he wished to have me. I noticedpresently that the referee was not within my range of vision, and aquick glance told me he was standing directly behind me; it was notintuition that told me why, for I had seen that trick played before bycrooked swordsmen with an accomplice. I heard a few groans from thestands; and then I knew that I was right, for no honorable person couldwitness such a thing without voicing his disapproval.When Motus next lunged, hoping to force me back, the referee would"accidentally" be close behind me; I would bump into him, and Motuswould have me at his mercy. It is a despicable trick; and Ptantus musthave seen it coming, but he made no move to prevent it.I watched Motus' eyes and they telegraphed his intention to me aninstant before he lunged, throwing all his weight behind it. I hadslightly crouched in anticipation of this and my earthly musclescarried me to one side, and Motus's sword drove to the hilt through thebody of the referee.For a moment pandemonium reigned in the throne room. The entireaudience stood up in the stands and there were cheers and groans, andsomething told me that the cheers were for me and the groans for Motusand the referee.Motus was a terribly unstrung and rattled man as he jerked his bladefrom the body of the dead man, but now I gave him no respite. I wentafter him in earnest, though not yet for the kill. I cut a deep gashacross his swollen jaw."You will not make a good looking corpse now, Motus," I said, "andbefore I am through with you, you are going to look a great dealworse.""Calot!" he snapped, and then he rushed me, cutting and thrustingviolently. I parried every cut and thrust and wove a net of steelaround him, and every time he missed I brought blood from some new spoton his body."You have three xats to live, Motus," I said; "you had better make thebest of them."He rushed at me like a madman; but I sidestepped him and as he turned Itook off one of his ears as neatly as a surgeon could have done it--Ithought he was going to faint, for his knees seemed to give beneath himand he staggered about for a moment.I waited for for him to recover control of himself, and then I went towork on him again. I tried to carve my initials on his breast, but bythis time there was not a whole place large enough; from the waist uphe looked like a plate of raw hamburger.The floor was covered with his blood by now; and as he rushed me againfuriously, he slipped and fell. He lay there for a moment glaring atme, for I am sure he expected that I would finish him off then; butinstead I said, "You have a xat and a half to live yet, Motus."He staggered to his feet and tried to throw himself upon me, screamingimprecations as he came. I think that by this time Motus had gone quitemad from pain and terror. I felt no sympathy for him--he was a rat;and now he was fighting like a cornered rat."The floor is too slippery here," I said to him; "lets go over by thejeddak's throne--I am sure that he would like to see the finish."I maneuvered him around into position and backed him across the flooruntil we stood directly in front of Ptantus.It is seldom that I have ever punished a man as I punished Motus; but Ifelt that he deserved it, and I was the plaintiff, prosecutingattorney, jury, and judge; I was also the executioner.Motus was gibbering now and making futile passes at me with his blade.Ptantus was glaring at me, and the audience was tense with breathlessexpectancy. I saw many an eye glance quickly at the clock."One more tal, Motus," I said. A tal is about eight tenths of anearthly second.At that Motus turned suddenly and ran screaming toward the greatdoorway that led from the throne room; and again the audience rose toits feet, and there were groans and cries of "Coward!"The fight was to have been to the death and Ptantus had wagered that Iwould not kill Motus. If I did not kill him, I feared that Ptantuswould then claim the money; so I risked everything on an art I hadoften practiced for my own amusement. I carried my sword hand farbehind my right shoulder and then brought it forward with all mystrength, releasing the blade point first. It flew like a sped arrowand drove through Motus' body below the left shoulder blade at exactly11 xats past the 8th zode.Chapter 11I turned and bowed to Ptantus, now having no sword with which to salutehim. He should have acknowledged this customary courtesy but he didnothing of the sort, he merely glared at me and stood up. The jeddaraarose too; and, with the trumpeters before them and the courtiersbehind, the two stalked out of the throne room, making a wide detour toavoid the blood and the two corpses.After they had left, the warrior who had brought me from the courtyardcame and touched me on the arm. "Come," he said. "All you get out ofthis is to be chained to your tree again.""I got a great deal more than that out of it," I replied, as Iaccompanied him across the throne room; "I had the satisfaction ofavenging a cowardly kick."As we crossed towards the doorway, someone started cheering and thenpractically the entire audience took it up. "That is an unusualdemonstration," said the warrior, "but you deserve it. No one onBarsoom ever saw such swordplay as you showed us tonight--and Ithought you were boasting!" He laughed.I knew that it would be necessary for us to cross a couple ofcourtyards before we reached the one in which I had been confined; andI realized that if I suddenly disappeared before the warrior's eyes, hewould know that I had obtained invisibility spheres; and while ofcourse he couldn't have found me, it would certainly have started aninvestigation and would have upset our plans for escape. If they knewthat I was at large and invisible, one of the first things that theywould most naturally have done would have been to place a guard over myflier.If, however, they merely thought that I had escaped, and was notinvisible, they would feel that they need only search for me to find mevery quickly. Of course, they might still place a guard over the flier;but such a guard would not be so on the alert, and we still might boardthe ship and get away before they were aware of our presence.As we approached the first courtyard, I suddenly broke away from myguard and ran ahead with all my earthly speed. The warrior shouted forme to halt, and broke into a run. As I reached the entrance to thecourtyard I pretended to dodge around the corner, which would of coursehave hidden me from him.I must confess that in that short sprint my heart had been in my mouth,for of course I could not know whether or not I should becomeinvisible.However, the moment that I left the lighted corridor I absolutelydisappeared; I could not see any part of my body--it was the strangestsensation that I have ever experienced.I had made my plans, and now I ran to the far end of the courtyard andleaped lightly to the roof of the city.I could hear the warrior guard rushing about calling to me; mydisappearance must certainly have mystified him, for having no ideathat I could become invisible, there was really no way in which hecould account for it except on the theory that I had run into theentrance to another street. However, he was probably confident that Idid not have time to do this.Well, I did not bother much about him or what he was thinking; insteadI took off across the roof in search of the courtyard where Ptor Fakwas awaiting me and where I expected to meet Rojas at midnight; and itwas pretty close to what we call midnight then, the Barsoomian midnightoccurring twenty-five xats after the eighth zode.A Martian day is divided into ten zodes, there being four tals to axat, or two hundred to a zode. The dials of their clocks are markedwith four concentric circles; between the inner circle and the nextouter one the Zodes are marked from one to ten; in the next circle, thexats are marked from one to fifty between each two zodes; and in theouter circle two hundred tals are marked between the radii which passthrough the zode numbers and extend to the outer periphery of the dial.Their clock has three different colored and different length hands, oneindicating the zode, the second one the xat, and the longest one thetal.(Editor's note: I have before me the diagram of the dial of a Martianclock drawn for me by John Carter many years ago.) I had no difficultyin finding the courtyard in which I had been confined; and when Ireached it I whistled, and Ptor Fak answered. I dropped down into itand whistled again, and when Ptor Fak answered I groped around until Ibumped into him."How well you look," he said, and we both laughed. "It took you muchlonger to dispose of Motus than I had anticipated," he continued."I had to drag it out so that I would be sure to be invisible when Ihad returned here," I explained."And now what?" asked Ptor Fak.I found his head and placed my lips close to one of his ears. "AfterRojas comes," I whispered, "we'll cross the roof to the quarters of theslave women and get Llana of Gathol. In the meantime, you climb thistree which overhangs the roof and wait for us up there.""Whistle when you come up," he said, and left me.Invisibility I discovered was most disconcerting; I could see no partof my body; I was only a voice without visible substance--a voicestanding in an apparently deserted courtyard which might be filled withenemies, as far as I knew. I couldn't even have heard them had therebeen any there, for the Invaks have taken the precaution of coveringall the metal parts of their accouterments so that there is not theusual clank of metal upon metal when they move about.Knowing as I did that a search for me must have been instituted, I feltpositive that there must be Invak warriors in the courtyard,notwithstanding the fact that I neither heard nor saw anyone.As I waited for Rojas, I took the precaution of not moving about lest Iinadvertently bump into someone who might require me to identifymyself; but I could not prevent someone from bumping into me, and thatis exactly what happened. Hands were laid upon me and a gruff voicedemanded, "Who are you?"Here was a pretty kettle of fish. What was I to do? I doubted that Icould pass myself off as an Invak--I knew too little about them to dothat successfully; so, I did the next best thing that occurred to me."I am the ghost of Motus," I said, in a sepulchral voice. "I amsearching for the man who killed me, but he is not here."The hands relinquished their hold upon me; I could almost feel thefellow shrink away from me, and then another voice said, "Ghost ofMotus nothing--I recognize that voice--it is the voice of the slavewho killed Motus. Seize him!"I jumped to one side but I jumped into the arms of another voice, andit seized me. "I have him!" cried the voice. "How did you achieve thesecrets of invisibility, slave?"With my left hand I groped for the hilt of the fellow's sword; and whenI found it, I said, "You have made a mistake," and drove his swordthrough the heart of the voice.There was a single piercing scream, and I was free. Holding my swordpoint breast high, I turned and ran for the tree by which Ptor Fak hadmounted to the roof. One of my shoulders brushed a body, but I reachedthe tree in safety.As I climbed carefully to a lower branch so as not to reveal mypresence by the shaking of the foliage, I heard a low whistle. It wasRojas."Who whistled?" demanded a voice somewhere in the courtyard. There wasno reply.Rojas could not have come at a worse time; I did not answer her; I didnot know what to do, but Ptor Fak evidently thought that he did, for heanswered the whistle. He must have thought that it was I who wassignalling to him."They're on the roof!" cried a voice. "Quick! up that tree!"Now the only tree that overhung the roof was the one that I was in, andif I remained there I was sure to be discovered. There was only onething for me to do and that was to go up on the roof myself, and I didso as quickly as I could.I hadn't taken half a dozen steps after I arrived, before I bumped intosomeone."Zodanga?" I whispered. I didn't wish to speak Ptor Fak's name, but Iknew that he would understand if I spoke the name of the country fromwhich he came."Yes," he replied."Find the flier and stay near it until I come." He pressed my arm toshow that he understood, and was gone.I could see the tree up which I had come shaking violently; so I knewthat a number of warriors were climbing up in pursuit of me, though howin the world they expected to find me, I don't know.It was a most amazing situation; there must have been at least a dozenmen on the roof and possibly still others down in the courtyard where Iknew Rojas to be, yet both the roof and the courtyard were apparentlydeserted--neither the eye nor the ear could perceive any living thing;only when someone spoke was the illusion dispelled, and presently Iheard a voice a short distance away. "He has probably gone this way--the city wall lies nearest in this direction. Spread out and comb theroof right to the city wall.""It's a waste of time," said another voice. "If someone has given himthe secret of invisibility, we can never find him.""I do not think it was he, anyway," said a third voice; "there is noway in which he could have become invisible--it was unquestionably theghost of Motus that spoke."By this time the voices were dwindling in the distance, and I felt thatit was safe to assume that all the warriors had gone in search of me;so I walked to the edge of the roof and jumped down into the courtyard.I stood there a moment concentrating all my mental powers in anendeavor to sense the presence of others near me, as Kandus had saidthat he was able to do, but I got no reaction. This might mean eitherthat I failed to sense the presence of others or that there was no onethere--at least near me; so I took the chance and whistled again. Ananswer came from the other side of the courtyard; I waited.Presently I heard a low whistle much nearer, and I replied--a momentlater Rojas' hand touched mine.I did not speak again for fear of attracting other pursuers, but I ledher to the tree and helped her to clamber to the roof."Where is my flier?" I whispered.She took me by the arm and led me in a direction at right angles tothat which my pursuers had taken. The outlook appeared brighterimmediately.Rojas and I walked hand in hand so as not to lose one another.Presently I saw my flier standing there in the light of the farthermoon, and it certainly looked good to me."The quarters of the slave women are near by, are they not?" I asked ina whisper."Right there," she said, and I suppose she pointed; then she led me tothe edge of the roof overlooking a courtyard.Chapter 12Rojas and I stood hand in hand at the edge of the roof looking downinto a seemingly deserted courtyard. "You gave Llana of Gathol theinvisibility sphere?" I asked."Yes," replied Rojas, "and she must be invisible by this time." Shepressed my hand. "You fought magnificently," she whispered. "Everyoneknew that you could have killed Motus whenever you wished; but only Iguessed why you did not kill him sooner. Ptantus is furious; he hasordered that you be destroyed immediately.""Rojas," I said, "don't you think that you should reconsider yourdecision to come with me? All of your friends and relatives are here inInvak, and you might be lonesome and unhappy among my people.""Wherever you are, I shall be happy," she said. "If you do not take mewith you I shall kill myself."So that was that. I had involved myself in a triangle which bid fair toprove exceedingly embarrassing and perhaps tragic. I felt sorry forRojas, and I was annoyed and humiliated by the part that I was forcedto play. However, there had been no other way; it had been a questionof Rojas' happiness or of Llana's life, and the lives of Ptor Fak andmyself. I knew that I had chosen wisely, but I was still most unhappy.Motivated by the habits of a lifetime, I strained my eyes in search ofLlana of Gathol, who perhaps was down there somewhere in the courtyard;and then, realizing the futility of looking for her, I whistled. Therewas an immediate response from below and I sprang down from the roof.It did not take us long to locate one another; and as we were notchallenged, I assumed that we were fortunate enough to be alone.Llana touched my hand. "I thought that you would never come," she said."Rojas told me about the duel that you were to fight; and while I hadno doubts about your swordsmanship, I realized that there is always thedanger of an accident or trickery. But at last you are here; howstrange it is not to be able to see you. I was really quite frightenedwhen I stepped out here into the courtyard and discovered that I could noteven see myself.""It is the miracle of invisibility that will save us," I said, "Andonly a miracle could have saved us. Now I must get you to the roof."There was no overhanging tree in this courtyard, and the roof wasfifteen feet above the ground. "You are about to have an experience,Llana," I said."What do you mean?" she asked."I am going to toss you up onto the roof," I told her, "and I hope youland on your feet.""I am ready," she said.I could see the roof all right, but I couldn't see Llana; all I coulddo was pray that my aim would be true. "Keep your whole body perfectlyrigid," I said, "until I release you; then draw your feet up beneathyou and relax. You may get a bad fall, but I don't think that it canhurt you much; the roof is heavily padded with vines.""Let's get it over," said Llana.I grasped one of her legs at the knee with my right hand and cradledher body on my left forearm; then I swung her back and forth a coupleof times, and tossed her high into the air.Llana of Gathol may have been invisible, but she was also definitelycorporeal.I heard her land on the roof with anything but an invisible thud, and Ibreathed a sigh of relief. To spring lightly after her was nothing formy earthly muscles, and soon a low whistle brought the three of ustogether. I cautioned the girls to silence, and we walked hand in handin the direction of the flier.This was the moment that aroused my greatest apprehension, as Irealized that the flier might be surrounded by invisible warriors; and,as far as I knew, the only sword among us was the one I had taken fromthe warrior I had killed in the courtyard; but perhaps Rojas had one."Have you a sword, Rojas?" I whispered."Yes," she said; "I brought one.""Can you use it?" I asked."I never have used one," she replied."Then give it to Llana of Gathol; she can use if it necessary, and veryeffectively too."We approached to within about a hundred feet of the flier and stopped.This was the crucial moment; I was almost afraid to whistle, but I did.There was an immediate answer from the vicinity of the flier. Ilistened a moment for voices that might betray the presence of theenemy, but there were none.We advanced quickly then, and I helped the girls over the rail. "Whereare you, Ptor Fak?" I asked. "Are you alone?""On deck," he said, "and I don't think there is anyone around.""All the warriors of Invak could be here now," I said, as I reached thecontrols and started the motor.A moment later the little ship rose gracefully into the air, and almostimmediately from below us, we heard shouts and imprecations. The Invakshad seen the ship, but too late to prevent our escape. We were safe. Wehad accomplished what a few hours before would have seemed impossible,for then Ptor Fak and I were chained to trees and Llana of Gathol was acaptive in another part of the city."We owe Rojas a great debt of gratitude," I said."A debt," she replied, "which it will be very easy, and I hopepleasant, for you to repay."I winced at that; I saw a bad time ahead for me. I would rather face adozen men with my sword than one infuriated or heartbroken woman.Before we reached Helium, I would have to tell her; but I decided towait until we had regained visibility.Perhaps it would have been easier to tell her while we were bothinvisible, but it seemed a cowardly way to me."You are going on to Helium, John Carter?" asked Llana."Yes," I said."What will they think of a flier coming in by itself with no one onboard?" she asked."We will have to wait until we become visible before we approach thecity," I replied. "We must not take any more of the invisibilityspheres.""Who is John Carter?" asked Rojas. "Is there another here of whom I didnot know?""I am John Carter," I replied. "Dotar Sojat is merely a name that Iassumed temporarily.""Then you are not the Sultan of Swat?" demanded Rojas."No," I replied, "I am not.""You have deceived me.""I am sorry, Rojas," I said; "I was not trying to deceive you--aboutmy name; as a matter of fact I never told you I was the Sultan of Swat;I told some warrior who questioned me." If she were angry about mydeceiving her concerning my name and status, how was she going to takethe fact that I did not love her, and that I already had a mate! I wasas unhappy as a live eel in a frying pan; then of a sudden I decided totake the bull by the horns and get the whole thing over with. "Rojas,"I began, "though I did not deceive you about my name, I did deceive youin a much more important matter.""What is that?" she asked."I used your--ah--friendship to gain freedom for Llana of Gathol. Ipretended to love you when I did not; I already have a mate."I waited for the explosion, but no explosion came; instead there was afaint, tinkling, little laugh. I continued to wait; no one spoke; thesilence became oppressive. Momentarily I expected a dagger to beslipped into me; or that Rojas would leap overboard; but neither ofthese things occurred, and I sat there at the controls wondering aboutthat laugh. Perhaps the shock of my avowal had unbalanced Rojas' mind.I wished that I could see her, and at the same time I was glad that Icould not--and I was certainly glad that no one could see me, for Ifelt like a fool.I couldn't think of anything to say, and I thought the silence wasgoing to last forever, but finally Llana of Gathol broke it. "How longwill we remain invisible?" she asked."A little more than ten zodes from the time you took the sphere," saidRojas. "I shall become visible first, and then probably either JohnCarter or Ptor Fak, as I imagine that they took the spheres about thesame time; you will be the last to regain visibility." Her voice wasperfectly normal; there was no trace of nervousness nor bitterness init. I couldn't make the girl out.Perhaps she was the type that would bide its time until it could wreaksome terrible revenge. I'll tell you that I had plenty to think abouton that trip to Helium.Chapter 13Shortly after dawn, I saw a most amazing phenomenon--I saw just asuggestion of the outline of a shadowy form beside me; it took shapeslowly: Rojas was materializing! The effects of the invisibilitycompound were disappearing, and as they disappeared Rojas appeared.There she sat gazing out across the Martian landscape, the shadow of ahappy smile upon her lips; somehow she reminded me of a cat which hadjust swallowed a canary."Kaor!" I said, which is the Barsoomian equivalent of Good Morning,Hello, or How do you do?--in other words, it is a Barsoomian greeting.Rojas looked in my direction but of course she could not see me."Kaor," she replied, smiling. "You must be very tired, John Carter; youhave had no sleep all night.""When Llana of Gathol awakens, I shall sleep," I replied; "she canhandle the controls quite as well as I.""I have never been beyond the forests of Invak before," said Rojas."What a drab, lonely world this is.""You will find the twin cities of Helium very beautiful," I said. "Ihope that you will like it there, Rojas.""I am sure that I shall," she said; "I am looking forward to being inHelium with you, John Carter."I wondered what she meant by that. The girl was an enigma; and I gaveup trying to find a solution for her, and when Llana of Gathol spoke amoment later, and I knew that she was awake, I asked her to take thecontrols."We will cruise around outside of Helium," I said, "until we have allregained visibility," and then I lay down and fell asleep.It was late that night before we had all regained visibility, and thenext morning I approached Helium. A patrol boat came up to meet us, andrecognizing my flier, it came alongside. The officer in command, and,in fact, the whole crew were overjoyed to see both Llana of Gathol andmyself, alive and safe. The patrol boat escorted us to the hangar onthe roof of my palace, where we received a tremendous welcome, as wehad both been given up for dead long since.Ptor Fak, Llana, and Rojas were behind me when I took Dejah Thoris inmy arms; then I turned and presented Rojas and Ptor Fak to her."Had it not been for Rojas," I told Dejah Thoris, "none of us wouldhave been here," and then I told her very briefly of our capture andincarceration in Invak.I watched Rojas very closely as Dejah Thoris took both her hands inhers and kissed her on the forehead; and then, to my surprise, Rojasthrew her arms about her and kissed her squarely on the mouth; the girlwas absolutely bewildering.After we had all breakfasted together Dejah Thoris asked me what myplans were now. "I shall see Tardos Mors immediately," I replied, "andafter I have arranged for the dispatch of a fleet for Gathol, I shallfly there myself, alone, to reconnoiter.""Why alone?" demanded Dejah Thoris; "But why should I ask? It hasalways been your way to do things alone."I saw Tardos Mors and made the necessary arrangements for the dispatchof a fleet to Gathol; and then I returned to my palace to bid DejahThoris good-bye; and as I passed through the garden, I saw Rojassitting there alone."Come here a moment, John Carter," she said; "I have something to sayto you."Here it comes, I thought; well, it would have to be gotten over sooneror later, and it would be a relief to get it over at once."You deceived me, John Carter," she said."I know I did," I replied."I am so glad that you did," she said, "for I deceived you. I admiredyou, John Carter, tremendously; but I never loved you. I knew that youhad come to Invak in a flier; and I knew that if you could be helped toescape in it, you might be persuaded to take me with you. I hate Invak;I was most unhappy there; I would have sold my very soul to haveescaped, and so I tried to make you love me so that you would take meaway. I thought I had succeeded, and I was very much ashamed of myself.You can never know how relieved I was when I found that I had failed,for I admired you too much to wish to bring unhappiness to you.""But why did you pretend to be so jealous of Llana of Gathol?" I asked."To make my love seem more realistic," she said."You have lifted a great weight from my conscience, Rojas. I hope thatyou will like it here and that you will be very happy.""I shall love it," she said, "for I already love Dejah Thoris, and shehas asked me to stay here with her.""Now I know that you will be happy here," I told her."I am sure of it, John Carter--I have seen some very handsome menalready, and they can't all have mates."The flight to Gathol was uneventful. I had taken an invisibility spheresome time before leaving Helium, and before I reached Gathol I hadcompletely disappeared.As I approached the city, I could see Hin Abtol's army drawn up aroundit; there were many more than there had been when I escaped in theDusar; and on the line from which I had stolen the ship were at least ahundred more fliers, many of them large fighting ships, with sometransports.Presently several patrol boats rose to meet me. I was flying no colors,and when they hailed me I made no response. A couple of them rangedalongside me, and I could hear the exclamations of astonishment whenthey discovered that there was no one aboard the ship and no pilot atthe controls.I think they were rather frightened, for no one attempted to board me;and they let me fly on without interfering.I dropped down to the Panar line, and set my flier down beside the lastship in it. One of the patrol ships landed also, and was soonsurrounded by a crowd of officers and warriors, who approached my shipwith every sign of curiosity written on their faces."This ship is piloted by Death," I said in a loud voice; "it is deathto approach too close or to try to board it."The men stopped then, and most of them fell back. I dropped to theground and wandered about at will, my purpose being to gather whatinformation I could from conversations among the officers. These men,however, were so interested in my ship that I gained no informationfrom them; and so I wandered away and walked down the line to theflagship, which I boarded, passing the sentry at the foot of the ladderand the watch on deck. It seemed strange to walk there among the enemy,unseen; all that I had to do was to avoid contact with any of them, andI was safe from detection.I went to the cabin of the commander of the fleet. He was sitting therewith several high ranking officers, to whom he was giving instructions."As soon as Hin Abtol arrives from Pankor," he was saying, "we are totake up several thousand men equipped with equilibrimotors and dropthem directly into the city; and then, with Gathol as a base, we shallmove on Helium with fully a million men.""When will Hin Abtol arrive?" asked one of the officers."Tonight or tomorrow morning," replied the commander. "He is comingwith a large fleet."Well, at last I had learned something; and my plans were formulatedinstantly. I left the flagship and returned to my flier, which wasbeing examined by a considerable number of officers and men, but from asafe distance.I had difficulty in finding an opening through which I could passwithout touching any of them; but at last I succeeded, and I was soonat the controls of my flier.As it rose from the ground apparently without human guidance,exclamations of awe and astonishment followed it. "It is Death," Iheard a man cry; "Death is at the controls."I circled low above them. "Yes, it is Death at the controls," I calleddown to them; "Death, who has come to take all who attack Gathol;" thenI zoomed swiftly aloft and turned the nose of my ship toward Pankor.I only went far enough from Gathol to be out of sight of Hin Abtol'sforces; and then I flew in wide circles at considerable altitudes,waiting for Hin Abtol's fleet.At long last I saw it in the distance. With it was the man who, withthe enormous number of his conscripts, would surely take Gathol andsack it, were he not stopped.I spotted Hin Abtol's flagship immediately and dropped down alongsideit. My little flier evoked no alarm, as it would have been helpless inthe midst of this great fleet; but when those aboard the flagship sawthat the flier was maneuvering without human control, their curiosityknew no bounds, and they crowded to the rail to have a better look.I circled the ship, drawing nearer and nearer. I could see Hin Abtol onthe bridge with a number of officers, and I saw that they were as muchintrigued as were the warriors on deck.Hin Abtol was leaning far out over the rail to have a better look atme; I moved in closer; the side of the flier touched the bridgelightly.Hin Abtol was peering down at the deck and into the little controlroom. "'There is no one aboard this ship," he said; "some one haddiscovered the means of flying it by remote control."I had set the wheel to hold the flier tightly against the bridge; thenI sprang across the deck, seized Hin Abtol by his harness, and draggedhim over the rail onto the deck of the flier. An instant later stillholding Hin Abtol, I was at the controls; the flier nosed down and dovebeneath the flagship at full speed.I heard shouts of astonishment mingled with cries of rage and fear.A number of small craft took after me; but I knew that they could notovertake me, and that they would not dare fire on me for fear ofkilling Hin Abtol.Hin Abtol lay trembling at my side, almost paralyzed with terror. "Whatare you?" he finally managed to stammer. "What are you going to do withme?"I did not reply; I thought that that would terrify him the more; and Iknow that it did, for after a while he implored me to speak.We flew back, high over Gathol, which was now safe from attack. Earlythe next morning I saw a great fleet coming out of the southeast--itwas the fleet from Helium that Tardos Mors was bringing to relieveGathol.As I was approaching it, the effects of the invisibility spherediminished rapidly; and I materialized before the astounded gaze of HinAbtol."Who are you? What are you?" he demanded."I am the man whose flier you stole at Horz," I replied. "I am the manwho took it from beneath your nose in Pankor, and with it Llana ofGathol--I am John Carter, Prince of Helium; have you ever heard ofme?"Nearing the fleet, I broke out my colors--the colors of the Prince ofHelium; and a great cheer rose from the deck of every ship that coulddistinguish them.The rest is history now--how Helium's great fleet destroyed HinAbtol's fleet, and the army of Helium routed the forces which had forso long invested Gathol.When the brief war was over, we set free nearly a million of the frozenmen of Panar; and I returned to Helium and Dejah Thoris, from whom Ihope never to be separated again.I had brought with me Jad-han and Pan Dan Chee, whom we had found amongthe prisoners of the Panars; and though I was not present at themeeting between Pan Dan Chee and Llana of Gathol, Dejah Thoris hasassured me that the dangers and vicissitudes he had suffered for loveof the fair Gatholian had not been in vain.THE END